UAE-based fintech company, myZoi, announced Tuesday it has secured $14 million in funding from Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures and SBI Holdings. Additionally, it had obtained two regulatory licenses from the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE).
Serving Underbanked Migrants
The fintech startup aims to reduce the transaction cost of migrant remittances to less than 3%, said Syed Muhammad Ali, co-founder and CEO of myZoi in a statement, while also digitizing payroll processing for corporates.
myZoi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, said it plans to launch commercially by the end of the year and will use the new funding to expand its proposition for the underbanked.
UAE’s Remittance Market
The UAE is the second-largest market for outbound remittances in the world with migrants, constituting 88% of the UAE’s total population and accounting for the majority of its workforce, according to Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group’s 2022 annual report.
The CBUAE revealed in its 2022 Financial Stability Report that outward remittances through exchange houses recorded $39.7 billion last year. The top three countries for outward remittances were India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
Big Numbers
1.4 billion. This is the number of underbanked individuals globally, Ali, myZoi’s CEO, told Forbes Middle East. The UAE has over 5 million people with limited access to formal financial services, he added.
What to Watch for
Ali said myZoi will further expand within the GCC region and explore opportunities beyond to capitalize on the significant growth potential within the remittance market.
